Windows Redraw in I3 not correctly working when using fullscreen window switch

[Talkabout]

How to file a helpful issue

Qubes OS release

4.3

Brief summary

In 4.2 my custom "fullscreen" mode defined in I3 config, which allows to switch windows in fullscreen mode, was working properly. In 4.3 windows of some apps (Chromium, Discord, Teams for Linux) are not redrawn correctly when the parent container is using stacked/tabbed mode (window is not visible before switching to it).
The mode definition looks like this:

  mode "fullscreen" {
        bindsym $mod+f mode "default", fullscreen disable
	bindsym $mod+h fullscreen disable, focus left, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+j fullscreen disable, focus down, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+k fullscreen disable, focus up, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+l fullscreen disable, focus right, fullscreen enable

	bindsym $mod+1 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws1, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+2 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws2, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+3 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws3, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+4 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws4, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+5 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws5, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+6 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws6, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+7 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws7, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+8 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws8, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+9 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws9, fullscreen enable
	bindsym $mod+0 fullscreen disable, workspace number $ws10, fullscreen enable
}

bindsym $mod+f mode "fullscreen", fullscreen enable

I have already posted a discussion in the QubesOS forum: https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/i3-window-redraw-not-always-working-in-fullscreen/38628/4
And I3 disussion forum: i3/i3#6590 (reply in thread). Here I got a helpful answer suggesting some solutions to the problem. The only one that worked for me was to "postpone" the f"ullscreen enable" command by 0.1s. As this is not possible in the config file itself I decided to test this via a python script, which catches the bindings and executes the necessary commands via "i3-msg".
The person also mentioned some changes introduced in QubesOS 4.3 related to how window events are propagated in relation to Xen, which can be the reason for that problem

Steps to reproduce

1. use I3 window manager
2. add fullscreen mode into config file
3. navigate to a tabbed/stacked application container
4. open affected app (Chromium works most of the time, but gets stuck sometimes. Discord seems to be affected most of the time)
5. enter fullscreen
6. switch to next/previous window of the tabbed/stacked container
7. sometimes windows are stuck and it is not possible to interact

Expected behavior

Switching windows for the above use case should work like it did in QubesOS 4.2

Actual behavior

Switching windows for the above use case causes them to get stuck (not being redrawn correctly)

Additional information

[ben-grande]

Upstream released 4.25.1 on 2026-02-06: QubesOS/qubes-desktop-linux-i3#54 (comment). Might or might not fix this issue. I am also facing it.

[Talkabout]

@ben-grande was not able to find any mention in release notes that might be related to our problem. Will try it when the dom0 update arrives and report back. Thanks for mentioning the upstream update!

[ben-grande]

I am not facing this anymore on R4.3 i3 4.25.1. Let's wait for the author to retry to close this, if appropriate.

[Talkabout]

@ben-grande how did you update to the new version? I ran an update on dom0 but there was no I3 package update available.

[ben-grande]

@ben-grande how did you update to the new version? I ran an update on dom0 but there was no I3 package update available.

I have "testing" repos enabled. You can try to fetch a package from testing:

• https://doc.qubes-os.org/en/latest/user/advanced-topics/how-to-install-software-in-dom0.html#testing-repositories

sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-dom0-current-testing i3

[Talkabout]

@ben-grande thank you for that hint. I will try this today in the evening and will report back.

[Talkabout]

Regardless what I try I alway get this:

I enabled the testing repo in /etc/yum.repos.d/qubes-dom0.repo, but I am not getting the updated version. Any idea what is going wrong?

Thanks!

[ben-grande]

Not sure. Check next week, it will probably be migrated to "current" by them.

[marmarek]

try adding also --action=update option

[Talkabout]

@marmarek that worked, thanks!

Unfortunately the issue is not fixed for me. When going back to the i3 config without the event handler script, the apps are again not updated correctly.